Apparatus for storing and displaying carpet samples or the like

ABSTRACT

A carpet sample storage and display apparatus utilizes a plurality of interlocked members to hold the samples in overlapped, substantially upright position. A slot in the sidewall of each member receives a tab on an adjacent member and a pair of openings in the same sidewall receive a pair of ears which project from the adjacent member. The members are disposed in overlapping relationship to each other, so that a portion of each of plurality of similarly dimensioned samples is exposed even when in stored condition, and any sample may be conveniently withdrawn for closer inspection when desired. Each member is identical to permit any number of the same to be interlocked. The members may be supported by conventional structure such as a pair of spaced horizontal shelves and, by virtue of their overlapped relationship, are individually oriented at an angle relative to the front of the support structure.

United States Patent CARPET SAMPLES OR THE LIKE 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

Ill/55 Zll/SSX 2,909,287 l0/l959 Galassi 3,198,340 8/l965 Tokash Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers. .lr. AttorneySchmidt, Johnson, Hovey & Williams ABSTRACT: A carpet sample storage and display apparatus utilizes a plurality of interlocked members to hold the samples in overlapped, substantially upright position. A slot in the sidewall of each member receives a tab on an adjacent member and a pair of openings in the same sidewall receive a {52] U.S.Cl 211/45 pair of cars which project from the adjacent member. The [51] Int. Cl A471 7/16 members are disposed in overlapping relationship to each [50] Field of Search 21 H45, 55, other, so that a portion of each of plurality of similarly dimen- 50, 49, 128; 312/345 sioned samples is exposed even when in stored condition, and any sample may be conveniently withdrawn for closer inspec- References Cited tion when desired. Each member is identical to permit any UNITED STATES PATENTS number of the same to be interlocked. The members may be 3,515,283 6/1970 Poteat 211/55 PP by cmeminal Structure Such as a P SPaced 2 153 422 4 1939 Kromanm 21 [/55 horizontal shelves and, by virtue of their overlapped relation- 99 3/1935 Cook. 35/50 ship, are individually oriented at an angle relative to the front 1,211,065 1 1917 Brady 211/45 Ofthe supPomtwcwre- I0 22 I I2 2 40 T "-77 4. 18 Q6 7 14 28 s v v PATENTED JAN] 1 1872 Iwnl INVENTOR Kennefh J. Jennings wwwawdfi ATTORNE vs.

APPARATUS FOR STORING AND DISPLAYING CARPET SAMPLES OR THE LlKE This invention relates to apparatus for storing displaying carpet samples or the like.

With the ever-increasing variety of carpet materials which are available for the consumer, it is imperative for a carpet supplier to maintain and be able to effectively display an adequate stock of a large number of carpet samples. Prior devices for storing and displaying carpet samples have consisted largely of either a binder-type display unit or a customconstructed cabinet-type unit. With a binder-type unit a number of carpet samples are bound together one on top of the other in book form. This type of structure provides little protection for the samples, is bulky and difficult to handle, does not simultaneously display a portion of all of the samples for comparison or selection, and does not facilitate a customer conveniently removing individual samples from the binder. The alternative to such binder type of display apparatus has been the construction of special cabinets or cabinetry having individual pigeon holes" for receiving carpet samples. Such cabinet type of display units normally must be custom built for use in particular premises at a cost which makes them initially uneconomical, and they are thereafter impractical to change or move.

The present invention has for its primary object the provision of improved apparatus for storing and displaying carpet samples or the like, which is readily adapted for economical mass production and can thereafter be assembled on the premises to fit into any length of available ordinary shelf space to accommodate a corresponding number of carpet samples.

Another important object of the invention is to provide such apparatus which will continuously exhibit a portion of each stored sample with such samples disposed for easy selection and removable to permit closer examination thereof.

Another important object of the invention is to provide such apparatus employing a plurality of identical members releasably interlocked together by cooperating slot and tab means and arranged to hold the stored samples in substantially upright and partially overlapped relationship.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide, as an article of manufacture, a type of simple and inexpensive component member adapted to be quickly and releasably assembled with other like members to present storage and display apparatus for use in various environments.

Still other important objects of the invention will be made clear or become apparent from the accompanying drawing and the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that follows.

in the drawing:

HO. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the type of component member contemplated by the invention for assembling storage and display apparatus, such view being taken from above, to the front and beyond the open end of such member;

P16. 2 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the storage and display apparatus contemplated by the invention and assembled from members of the type shown in FIG. 1;

FlG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2, except that the rearmost member is shown as in a top plan view;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring first particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the storage and display apparatus forming member constituting the preferred embodiment contemplated by the invention is designated by the numeral 10. The member has a top wall 12, a bottom wall 14, and end wall 16, and a rear wall 18, being open at both the front thereof and the end thereof opposite end wall 16. Each such member 10 has a generally upright, elongated slot formed in the rear wall 18 thereof and preferably spaced more closely to the end wall 16 than to the open end of the member 10. Each member 10 is also providedwith an elongated, upright tab 22 upon the end wall 16 thereof, such tabs extending forwardly for a very short distance from the forward edge 24 of the end wall 16 and thence extending from the end wall 16 in a direction oppositely from the rear wall 18 but in general parallelism to the plane of the latter.

The top wall 12 and bottom wall 14 of each member 10 is provided with an ear designated 26 and 28 respectively extending forwardly from the corresponding top or bottom wall 12 or 14 and disposed approximately the same distance from the open end of member 10 as the slot 20 is spaced from the end wall 16. The rear wall 18 of each member i0 is provided with a pair of notches 30 and 32 extending adjacent the top wall 12 and bottom wall 14 respectively and in the direction of end wall 16.

The members 10 are preferably fabricated of any suitable, relatively rigid but resilient, plastic material and may conveniently be formed as a unitary article with all of the aforementioned elements thereof integral to the member 10.

The relative sizes and dispositions of the slot 20 and the tab 22 on each member 10 are such that, when a second member 10 is disposed behind a first such member 10, the tab 22 of the second member will be received through the slot 20 of the first member, thereby providing one interlocking means between such members by virtue of the tab 22 of the second member overlying a portion of the rear wall 18 of the first member adjacent to the slot 20 of the latter. Additional means for interlocking a pair of adjacent members 10 is provided by cooperation between the ears 26 and 28 of the second or rearward member 10 and the notches 30 and 32 of the first or frontal member 10, the notches 30 and 32 being disposed and dimensioned to receive the ears 26 and 28 upon slightly flexing the portions of the top and bottom walls 12 and 14 of the rearward member carrying the ears 26 and 28 thereon toward each other for alignment with the notches 30 and 32 of the frontal member 10, it being noted that the resiliency of the top and bottom walls 12 and 14 of the rearward member will tend to maintain the ears 26 and 28 thereon releasably, but positively, within the notches 30 and 32 of the frontal member 10.

Those skilled in the art will not appreciate that any desired number of the members or articles 10 may be assembled in the manner described to present an interlocked storage and display assembly in which successively disposed members are partially overlapped and the rear wall 18 of the frontal member 10 of any adjacent pair thereof serves to close a major portion of the otherwise open front of the rear one of such pair of members 10, thereby defining a compartment in which items such as carpet samples or the like may be conveniently stored.

As best illustrated in FIG. 3, the longitudinal dimension for the members 10 from the end wall 16 to the opposite open end thereof will preferably be chosen as slightly less than the corresponding length of the particular type of samples to be stored and displayed, and the width or vertical dimension of the rear wall 18 of the members 10 will be chosen to adequately accommodate the width or corresponding dimension of the samples to be stored and displayed.

in FIG. 2, there is illustrated a typical storage and display apparatus generally designated 40, which has been assembled from a plurality of the members 10 by overlapping and interlocking the latter as previously described. The apparatus 40 may be supported upon any suitable base structure, but the preferred mounting is within conventional shelving including, for each assembly 40, an underlying support shelf 42, an overlay shelf 44 (which may serve as the support shelf 42 for another assembly 40), and a backwall 46. Although often not necessary, each of the members 10 of apparatus 40 may be releasably secured to the support shelf 42 as by tacks or screws 18 passing through the bottom wall 14 thereof. If desired, small holes as at 50 may be provided in the bottom wall 14 or the top wall 12 or both adjacent the open end of each of the members 10 to facilitate such fastening of the members 10 to either or both of the shelves 42 and 44. Although the members 10 are illustrated in FIG. 2 as of slightly less vertical dimensions than the spacing between the shelves 42 and 44, it will be understood that such dimension of the members 10 could be selected to fit relatively snugly between shelves 42 and of either conventional or any particular spacing in which event employment of the fastening means 48 would either be facilitated or rendered completely unnecessary, in view of the relative immobility of the assembly 40 when filled with carpet samples or the like.

H6. 3 further illustrates the disposition of the various members l assembled to present the apparatus 40 and clearly illustrates the effect of the overlapping relationship of the members when the rearmost comers are disposed along the rear wall 46. When so arranged, the open ends of the members 10 will preferably terminate somewhat rearwardly of the frontal edges of the shelf 42 and 44, and all of the members 10 will be disposed at a suitable angle relative to the longitudinal dimension of the shelves 42 and 44. A number of typical samples are shown as in stored and displayed disposition within the assembly 40 in FIG. 3 and are generally designated 52, 54 and 56. It will be noted that the relative sizing between the members 10 and the samples 52, 54 and 56 is such that a forward portion of the sample 52, for instance, extends in covering relationship to forwardmost portions of not only the member 10 within which it is stored but also the member 10 immediately therebehind, but does not extend over the forwardmost portion of the sample 54 immediately behind the sample 52. Accordingly, when the apparatus 40 is filled with samples, a forwardmost part of each sample is exposed to facilitate easy location, selection and removal thereof, and, at the same time, the stored samples themselves serve to essentially hide the members 10 of the storage assembly 40.

FIG. 4 is included merely to show in somewhat greater detail the flexing action of the top and bottom walls 12 and 14 respectively of each rearward member 10 in order to dispose the ears 26 and 28 thereof within the notches 30 and 32 of the member 10 frontally adjacent thereof.

Those skilled in the art will now appreciate that the invention provides a storage and display apparatus that is extremely versatile as to the environment into which it can be employed and which is adapted for quick and convenient assembly from a number of identical component members that are simple and economical to manufacture. They will further appreciate, however, that a number of minor changes or modifications could be made from the exact details of construction shown and described for the apparatus 40 and the members 10 for purposes of illustrating one preferred embodiment of the invention without departing from the novelty, spirit or intent of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention should be deemed limited only by the scope of the appended claims when fairly interpreted and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof.

1 claim:

1. Apparatus for storing and displaying carpet samples or the like comprising:

a plurality of members each having a bottom wall, a top wall, a backwall, an end wall,and an open front and end, said members being disposed in adjacent, partially overlapping relationship with the open front of each rearward member being covered by the backwall of a member frontally adjacent thereto to present an open-ended sample storage chamber within the rearward member of each adjacent pair thereof; and

means including cooperable interlocking parts on each adjacent pair of members for interconnecting the members when they are disposed in said relationship,

said interlocking .parts including a tab projecting from a frontal edge portion of said end wall of each of said members and a slot in the backwall of each of said members with said tab on each rearward member being received in said slot of the frontally adjacent member, and

a pair of ears projecting from said top wall and said bottom wall respectively and a pair of spaced notches in said backwall adjacent said bottom wall and said top wall respectively with said ears on each rearward member being received in the corresponding notches of the frontally adjacent member.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said bottom wall and said top wall are resiliently yieldable, and positioning of said ears within said notches requires movement of said top and bottom walls toward each other from their normal positions, whereby said ears are held within said notches under the influence of the resiliency of said top and bottom walls.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, including an elongated, generally horizontal element upon which said members are supported with their bottom walls resting on said element.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, including a second elongated, generally horizontal support element spaced above the first-mentioned support element, said members being disposed between said elements with the top wall of each member proximally underlying said second element.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein said members are disposed with their respective backwalls extending at an angle to the longitudinal dimensions of said support elements.

6. A storage and display apparatus-forming article comprismg:

a member having a bottom wall, a top wall, a backwall, an end wall, and an open front and end, said backwall having an elongated slot therein;

a tab projecting from said end wall and arranged and configured for reception in said slot of a second similar member;

a pair of notches in said backwall adjacent said top and bottom walls; and

a pair of ears projecting from said top and bottom walls respectively, said ears being arranged and configured for reception in said notches of a second similar member. 

1. Apparatus for storing and displaying carpet samples or the like comprising: a plurality of members each having a bottom wall, a top wall, a backwall, an end wall, and an open front and end, said members being disposed in adjacent, partially overlapping relationship with the open front of each rearward member being covered by the backwall of a member frontally adjacent thereto to present an open-ended sample storage chamber within the rearward member of each adjacent pair thereof; and means including cooperable interlocking parts on each adjacent pair of members for interconnecting the members when they are disposed in said relationship, said interlocking parts including a tab projecting from a frontal edge portion of said end wall of each of said members and a slot in the backwall of each of said members with said tab on each rearward member being received in said slot of the frontally adjacent member, and a pair of ears projecting from said top wall and said bottom wall respectively and a pair of spaced notches in said backwall adjacent said bottom wall and said top wall respectively with said ears on each rearward member being received in the corresponding notches of the frontally adjacent member.
 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said bottom wall and said top wall are resiliently yieldable, and positioning of said ears within said notches requires movement of said top and bottom walls toward each other from their normal positions, whereby said ears are held within said notches under the influence of the resiliency of said top and bottom walls.
 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, including an elongated, generally horizontal element upon which said members are supported with their bottom walls resting on said element.
 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, including a second elongated, generally horizontal support element spaced above the first-mentioned support element, said members being disposed between said elements with the top wall of each member proximally underlying said second element.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein said members are disposed with their respective backwalls extending at an angle to the longitudinal dimensions of said support elements.
 6. A storage and display apparatus-forming article comprising: a member having a bottom wall, a top wall, a backwall, an end wall, and an open front and end, said backwall having an elongated slot therein; a tab projecting from said end wall and arranged and configured for reception in said slot of a second similar member; a pair of notches in said backwall adjacent said top and bottom walls; and a pair of ears projecting from said top and bottom walls respectively, said ears being arranged and configured for reception in said notches of a second similar member. 